US Senator oppose Trump's backing of ZTE

US senators who back a clampdown on ZTE Corp urged fellow lawmakers on Tuesday not to give in to White House pressure to support an agreement lifting a ban on the Chinese telecommunications company.

That agreement, announced on June 7, has not yet been enacted. A Commerce Department official told Reuters on Tuesday that ZTE and the US government were still working on an escrow arrangement before the ban on the company can be lifted.

In a rare break with President Donald Trump's policy, the Republican-led Senate voted 85-10 on Monday for a sweeping defence policy bill that included the provision killing the Trump administration's agreement with ZTE.

Republicans and Democrats have expressed national security concerns about ZTE and another major Chinese telecommunications company, Huawei Technologies Ltd. But their ire against ZTE rose after it broke an agreement to discipline executives who conspired to evade US sanctions on Iran and North Korea.

ZTE agreed to pay a $1 billion penalty and put $400 million in an escrow account in a US bank as part of the settlement pact reached on June 7 to allow it to do business again with US suppliers.

The company paid the $1 billion civil penalty last week.

Trump is expected to lobby hard against the ZTE measure, approved by the Senate as an amendment to a must-pass annual defence policy bill. He was to address House Republicans later on Tuesday, and meet with senators on Wednesday.